Maybe we are connected with each other in ways that we don’t know and don’t see. Maybe our presence in our neighborhoods is noticed even though we don’t feel it. Maybe our regular actions are observed and registered in the minds of strangers, but their awareness is hidden from us....

On April 10, 2017, I attended the Age-Friendly Communities Conference, sponsored by AARP, Tufts Health Plan Foundation, Grantmakers in Aging, and FSG, a “mission-driven consulting firm for leaders in search of large-scale, lasting social change.” It was terrific. I learned a great deal that will guide my city’s initiative as...

Once in a great while I have an experience that unexpectedly and swiftly changes a long-held opinion. Usually, if I shift an attitude, it’s after much talking, studying, and thinking. But I had an encounter lately that made me see how I can revamp my mind almost instantly. It was...

Every day, I drive down the suburban streets where I live. Sometimes I walk. Overall, cars far outnumber walkers – even if I consider the multitudes of people who are out with their dogs. Making my way down a street by car or on foot is a lovely experience. There...

I was at a meeting the other evening and a grey-haired woman mentioned that people had tended not to notice her as she got older. She began to feel invisible. As she got greyer and greyer, she was more and more ignored. However, she decided to get a pair of...

Throughout my adult life, I have had a problem with the notion of New Year’s resolutions. When I was younger I would search my brain to find a possible change so I could feel virtuous. I can’t recall any of those bygone resolutions, except for the perennial promise to lose...

The notions of age-friendliness are on the minds of people in my community. I feel it as I amble around my city. One way that I am aware is that the language of age-friendliness is seeping into our consciousness and speech. It is popping out in everyday situations. This election...

I have never been quite comfortable with the term “aging,” at least in the context of what I write about and work on all the time -what it is like to get older. Although there is a general acceptance of the fact that we are all “aging” the term itself...

The concepts behind the age-friendliness and livability movement are taking hold in communities across the country and I am delighted! Where I live in Newton, Massachusetts, a lot of work has been going on for the past five years to create a foundation, raise awareness, and develop plans to benefit...

What a monumentally historic day it was for women when Hillary Clinton accepted the nomination for President at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. She said, “Standing here as my mother’s daughter, and my daughter’s mother, I’m so happy this day has come. When any barrier falls in America, for anyone,...

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About Marian

Marian Leah Knapp, Ph.D., wants to start a new conversation about “aging with intent.” Much of what is written about elders is from the point of view of physicians, psychiatrists, gerontologists, and adult children. In her roles as author, columnist, speaker and elder activist, Marian is reporting from the front lines.Full biography